Our special correspondent Luc Our reporter Xu Liuliu
As the Spring Festival approaches, a new drama "Detective Dee Renjie" will be released to the audience - "The Case of Detective Dee of the Tang Dynasty" adapted from the novel of the same name by the famous Dutch sinologist Goro Pei. CCTV and Youku started broadcasting, attracting attention. It is worth mentioning that this "Chinese Detective", which is widely known in the West, has also "went overseas" through the streaming media platform Netflix and has been broadcast in nearly 200 countries and regions, allowing global audiences to once again experience the style of "Chinese Sherlock Holmes".
Zhouyiwei version is a bit oily?
Di Renjie, a famous official of the Tang Dynasty, is a household name in China. There has long been a popular story about him "solving cases like a god" among the people. In the 1950s, Gao Luopei created the English version of "The Case of Di Gong of the Tang Dynasty" based on these legends. It caused a sensation after being published in Europe and the United States, and was later translated into more than ten languages. Only then did many Westerners know that there was a man in distant China. "Judge Di", Di Renjie is also known as "China's Sherlock Holmes" in the West. This new version of "The Case of Di Gong of the Tang Dynasty" continues Gao Luopei's setting and is introduced from the perspective of young Di Renjie: Di Renjie, who had just taken the imperial examination, was inadvertently involved in a bizarre murder case, but what was behind it was the early years of the Tang Dynasty. The power struggle in the imperial court caused by the "Phoenix Seal Case"... The story begins here. Di Renjie repeatedly solves strange cases in various places during his duties. There are 32 episodes in total, each episode is a 45-minute unit. Di Renjie, played by Zhou Yiwei, not only has rigorous reasoning ability, but also has strong physical skills and has built his own "detective team" at the same time. Characters such as Wu Zetian played by Zhong Chuxi, Wei Wuji played by Zhang Jiayi, and Cao An played by Wang Likun also revealed their true purpose as the plot continued to develop, reflecting the complexity of the characters and the political structure of the historical drama.
This creative method, which brings the reasoning like peeling off the cocoon and the "character design" that is difficult to distinguish between good and evil into the ancient Chinese background, is one of the creative trends in costume film and television works in recent years. Zhou Yiwei has participated in another ancient suspense-themed drama "The Twelve Hours of Chang'an". In this version of "The Case of Di Gong of the Tang Dynasty", he tried to play a different Di Renjie: although he is upright, he also has his own willfulness and humor. However, some viewers were not accustomed to his performance style, thinking it was "too greasy" and lacked a sense of stability when standing with Zhang Jiayi, You Yongzhi, etc.
"Yuan Fang, what do you think?"
As the most famous prime minister during the Wu Zetian period of the Tang Dynasty, Di Renjie's image has long appeared in various film and television dramas. There are more than ten versions of "Di Renjie's Case Story" with him as the protagonist. Since 1986 Since 2000, there have been "The Case of Di Gong", "The Legend of Di Renjie's Case", "Di Renjie, the Good Protector of the Country", "Moon Over Jiangnan: Di Renjie's Purge of Wrongs", etc. For many viewers, the "Detective Di Renjie" series (2004-2010) starring Liang Guanhua is their irreplaceable choice for Di Renjie. Liang Guanhua not only created a majestic and kind-hearted famous minister, but also left "Yuanfang you" What do you think?” is a popular internet meme. If we film Dee Renjie again in the future, we will inevitably compare it with Leung Guanhua's version.
On the big screen, Tsui Hark's "Detective Dee" series took this legendary character overseas. "Detective Dee: The Empire of Heaven" starring Andy Lau was shortlisted for the 2010 Venice Film Festival. The reader base laid by Goro Pei's novel in the West made overseas audiences very interested in the legend of "Judge Dee". The film hit the top ten at the box office in its first week in France more than ten years ago. "Le Monde" praised the film for its "beautiful images, fast pace, exciting action, and full of romantic poetry." After that, Tsui Hark successively filmed two sequels " Detective Dee: The Dragon King of the Dragon King " and " Detective Dee: The Four Heavenly Kings ". Although Detective Dee's actor was changed from Andy Lau to the younger Zhao Youting, the film still continued to be suspenseful. The strange style and the creation of the Tang Dynasty style also set a benchmark for subsequent works of this type.
China's "Sherlock Holmes" attracts overseas audiences
There are different versions of Dee Renjie's story, and the new version of "The Case of Detective Dee in the Tang Dynasty" has naturally attracted much attention.Youku also released a trailer for the English version of the show and confirmed that Netflix has purchased the rights to the show. Through the streaming media giant and Youku International Edition, 10 subtitle versions including English, Portuguese, and Thai are available in more than 190 countries around the world. In national and regional markets, audiences at home and abroad can follow the drama simultaneously. Many overseas viewers hope to see the domestically dubbed version as soon as possible. Yahoo and mydramalist also have introductions and even rating pages: "This drama tells the legendary story of Di Renjie, who is good at solving crimes. After passing the Jinshi examination, he was suddenly sent to a border town. There he not only encountered many mysteries, but also faced challenges bravely..."
Counselor Yu Jian of the Chinese Embassy in the Netherlands said: "The Case of Di Gong of the Tang Dynasty" is one of the important works for Western audiences to understand Chinese culture. He looks forward to the early translation of the series. into English, Dutch and other languages, bringing surprises to overseas audiences. In a recent interview with a reporter from the Global Times, Thomas van Gulick, the son of Goluope, said that Di Renjie is still an envoy of cultural exchanges between China and the West. He hopes to use the story of "Chinese Sherlock Holmes" Di Renjie as a bridge to connect China and the West. "Westerners, especially the younger generation, have a strong interest in ancient oriental culture. I am looking forward to the TV series being broadcast in the Netherlands, so that young people here can To learn more about Chinese culture, I also hope that they will return to the book to experience the beauty of China’s Tang culture.” ▲
